Review: MAC ROVING OPEN MIC Not So Open at Don't Tell Mama

Scrolling through the Don't Tell Mama event calendar, looking for shows to review, an entry jumped out at me, so I followed the breadcrumbs to the event page for the MAC ROVING OPEN MIC, there to find a tiny graphic and skeleton details:

In the post-pandemic nightclub industry, artists and clubs are working hard and moving fast to make up for the time and momentum lost to the lockdown, and we at Broadway World Cabaret have been focused on reporting on any venue or form of entertainment being put into the world, from virtual performances to piano bars, comedy acts to open mics, and after trips to Cast Party, Open Mic Mondays, Jazz Brunch, and Salon, the MAC Roving Open Mic seemed a natural progression in our reporting. So this writer called up a plus-one and set out for Don't Tell Mama for the Roving Open Mic night hosted by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets, there to find The Original Room at DTM nearly at capacity. Surveying the lay of the land, the faces of several cabaret community luminaries floated in the dim, as the increasing din demonstrated the excitement everyone felt at being in the iconic room, being with each other, and being poised to sing in public.

Not everyone in the room would be singing in public, though.

My plus-one, a member of the community with growing prominence, was denied the option to perform at the open mic, owing to the fact that he is not, at this time, a member of the MAC Association. Apparently, the MAC Roving Open Mic is less an evening hosted by the organization, and more a night exclusively for the institution. My guest, a previous MAC Award nominee, was informed that he would be permitted to sing, contingent upon his immediate renewal of his membership, but the chance to sing "Being Alive" was not attractive enough for the fifty dollar expense, so he demurred, only to be asked for a ten-dollar admission fee, a fee waived for MAC members but requested of non-MAC affiliates. It has been said that membership has its privileges, and it looks like the allowances for this night out are free admission to a two-hour musical crapshoot where certain members of the industry will be excluded from the proceedings, quite a privilege indeed, for nothing feels quite so warm and welcoming as being an uninvited guest made to feel beholden for being seated at the children's table at the last minute.

The truth is that the eighty-two minutes that we spent at the open-mic were worth the ten dollars we would have spent (as press, our cover charges were waived by the club, not by MAC) because the entertainers who were permitted to sing were entertaining on every stopping point of the Wheel of Wonderfull, whether their degree of delight originated from skill or whimsy. From her appearance last night, Barbara Malley collected two new fans from my table, and Frank McDonough, with whose work I am completely unfamiliar, will see me front and center at his next show. Women (and men) at a nearby table swooned over Sean Patrick Murtagh's operatic offering, while Ann Kittredge showed precisely why everyone MUST NOT miss her next show. Masterclasses in musical storytelling were the order of the day when Judy Wong and Tanya Moberly had their turns in the spotlight. Yes, for entertainment's sake, this open mic is definitely worth ten dollars, though one would like to think that so prominent a member of the community as show host Natasha Castillo would know everybody, especially people in the same club, and how to pronounce their names. Surely every person present felt for the much-adored Natasha during her unintentional gaffes, especially since the artists whose names were garbled were so incredibly gracious about it.

Whatever one might think of Ms. Castillo's charm or the incomparable joy of seeing Bobbie Horowitz in action, the fact remains that there is a glitch in the business model of the MAC Roving Open Mic. It seems like a better way to get non-members to join the organization might be to welcome them to sing at the Open Mic for a five-dollar fee, rather than restrict them to just sitting and watching for ten dollars. Perhaps when a non-MAC member got a chance to see how much promotion they could get for their upcoming show simply by singing a number and announcing their intel to a room filled with sixty other people, they might be ready - even anxious - to sign on the dotted line. Maybe if a non-MAC member came to an open mic and were made to feel welcome, like a part of the community, they would feel compelled to join the club, not to mention the potential reaction of a civilian who wandered in off the street, just looking to do some real-time karaoke with a real-live pianist. As it is, the MAC Open Mic is just an exclusive party for members of the club, and the people who have read advertising that doesn't boldly proclaim that in crystal clear verbiage will be walking in the door, an outsider. Until such time as the press for this show is made more clear, it might be wiser to cease advertising the evening as a public event, and send out e-blasts to the MAC members about where and when they can join in the fun.

Failing making the mission statement of the evening more clear, perhaps a name change is in order, maybe something along the lines of MAC ROVING CLOSED MIC would be more appropriate.

MAC ROVING OPEN MIC will next play Don't Tell Mama (September 28), 53 Above Broadway (October 26th), and Pangea (November 30th).

Photos of select performers by Stephen Mosher

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